Outcasts
by Mavynn
Summary: Erik is not the only one with secrets and a dark past. Can Christine overcome hers, or will she always be afraid to love her Angel? A poisonous viper and an attack on her life from a terror in her past may end their story before it begins.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Fanfic on this site. I write fan fiction to work out kinks in my other writing, to test new ideas in dialogue and for my own enjoyment. I will never be overly fussed by a left out comma or a dangling participle. It is my full belief if you are reading a story to search for those you are forgetting to suspend disbelief. But as there is no excuse for sloppiness and I take my craft and my work seriously, I test and I retest until I am happy. I am delighted with reviews, so please leave them if you like, I will read and respond, but in the end I do this for me. If you like it as well, that is a bonus for me and you.**

 **This story was inspired in a few places. ALW certainly. Leroux without whom none of this would be possible. My Doctor who is not only a POTO fan but she assures me that not only would it have been nearly impossible for Erik to have sang the way he is described as singing without a nose, but that Leroux never actually said he did not have one. One guest said he did not, another said it was transparent and still another said he thought it was only a shine that made it appear transparent. (the conversations I trap my poor doctor into, I really should be ashamed) So, Erik has a nose. I am madly in love with Gerard Butler, so I picture him. You picture whom ever you desire to. Art is subjective. I was inspired by so many here who repeated the theme that Christine loves Raoul like a brother, I took that one step further. I wondered what had to have occurred to make Christine so willing to believe that an actual Angel had visited her. Was it merely grief at the loss of her father, could she have had other traumas that influenced her?**

 **I own none of ALW's songs. The Phantom of the Opera is in the public domain. Please enjoy.**

Chapter 1 - Betrayal

The Phantom watched the young lovers leave the roof. Her words scarred his soul. How could she betray him? As he listened the wind whipped and snatched words away but he had heard enough. Oh yes, he heard enough to know how deeply her betrayal of him ran and every word was a blow. The only difference was they were not to his flesh this time.

Had she not told _him_ every night since she was a child that she loved her Angel? Had she not swore she wanted to _see_ him not just _hea_ r him? After her triumphant debut in Hannibal had she not come with _him_ willingly? Sang with _him_? Let _him_ hold her in his arms? Led _him_ to believe that she loved him as more than her Maestro, as more than an Angel? They even managed to survive his unmasking at her hands and resume her instruction, for a time. Until Il Mulato. Until this very night. And now this fickle girl was telling her boy how much she loved him instead. Her boy with the perfect, whole face.

Her foolish boy did not even believe the Phantom existed, that Christine had dreamed him into being. How he longed to prove him wrong as he snuffed out his life. "Why have you brought me here? We must return"! "Be still now Christine, don't say that don't even think it, forget this waking nightmare this Phantom is a fable believe me there is no Phantom of the Opera, my God, who is this man? This mask of death? Whose is this voice you hear? With every breath?

But _his_ words were nothing new, Christine's was the true betrayal that broke his spirit "Don't take me back there! He'll kill me! His eyes will find me there! Those eyes that burn! And if he has to kill a thousand men – The Phantom of the Opera will kill and kill again! My god, who is this man? Who hunts to kill? I can't escape from him. I never will"!

How could she believe he would harm one hair on her head? She was his muse, his protégé, his love. Harm her? Never! The boy? He was a different story. How he longed to strangle the life from him. Watch as the light slowly dimmed from his eyes. He was the viper in their nest, the one who had turned his Christine from him.

The boy was becoming frantic to convince her she had fantasized him into existence. Good, it would make killing him easier if he believed he had nothing to fear. "There is no Phantom of the Opera, your safety lies here"!

Christine continued her betrayal, "Raoul, I've been there – to his world of unending night to a world where the daylight dissolves into darkness…darkness… Raoul, I've seen him! Can I ever forget that sight? Can I ever escape from that face? So distorted, deformed, it was hardly a face, in that darkness…darkness…But his voice filled my spirit with a strange, sweet sound in that night there was music in my mind and through music my soul began to soar! And I heard as I'd never heard before".

Raoul pleaded with Christine to see she what she believed could not be reality "What you heard was a dream and nothing more"

Christine seemed wistful "Yet in his eyes all the sadness of the world those pleading eyes that both threaten and adore".

And then their love duet. It was clear he had lost her to this young fop before he could teach her that beauty was only societies perception that fear could become love. And she accepted his ring. The Phantom knew the only thing he could do was leave her to her happiness. He who adored her must leave her alone. He collapsed to the ground and picked up her discarded rose crushing it to his lips in a soundless scream of loss and anguish.

He returned to his lair only leaving to get the barest of necessities for months. Working on his opera like a madman stopping to eat only when he near starvation. Sleeping more often than not wherever he fell. Speaking to no one, seeing no one. Until his Great Work was done. The Masquerade Ball was mere days away and he knew he must be ready. The fools who ran his opera must be brought to heel and Christine must be ready to perform.

Everything must be perfect.

Christine must be perfect.

He would accept nothing less.


	2. A Matter of Dragons

Chapter 2

Christine was as far from perfect as one could be and still draw breath. She performed only what her contract required of her. It was enough to keep her position but no more. She went for her lessons every day, per the terms of her contract, but her Maestro, her Angel never showed. She had been nervous the first day. Alarmed the second. Terrified the third. And began her grieving on the fourth.

Her dressing room became a shrine. The last black ribbon she had received, retrieved from the roof top, was wrapped around the base of a votive that she lit and prayed before every night. She placed a red rose before it, but these roses had thorns. And when one pricked her thumb or finger she accepted the pain as her due.

Raoul kept her company and made certain she kept to the terms of her contract, and as the Opera House's patron made certain her position was safe, leading to unsavory speculation and rumors that Christine was too numb to care about. What difference did her reputation make when her Angel was clearly dead? For she knew only death would keep him from her. What matter was it if the chorus thought her a whore? It was a sign of how far she had fallen that La Carlotta was looking at her with sympathy. Irony in that she supposed. La Carlotta who had called her a whore when she knew it to be false, now that it was assumed true the diva was saddened by her fall. The Opera was a fickle stage indeed. Still, Christine was only aware of the change in opinions in a detached way, as though it were happening to a character she was playing. She could not muster enough spirit to care.

She dressed in mourning colors. And vowed to do so the rest of her life in penance. Meg Giry her only other true friend and daughter of Madame Giry her foster mother made certain that she ate and kept up her physical appearance, but even her dearest friend and sister of the heart could not rouse more than a mild interest in life from Christine. Meg took her shopping and to coffee in town and she lavished her with love and affection, but it was not the love and affection Christine needed. Or at least not the person she needed it from. It was truly as though her soul had died the day the Phantom left her.

And one day, three months into her grieving, she became certain she was finally going mad. The connection she had felt to her Angel, that little tingle of the spine when he was near. That awareness of him... she felt it again. Once in her dressing room as she bent in prayer and once when she left the stage when Monsieur Reyer could no longer bear to see her grief as she attempted to stay in the background of yet another rehearsal he sent her off, kindly and with gentle words, a pat on the shoulder that was almost, but not quite, a fatherly hug. Had she turned she would have seen the diminutive conductor cast a very dark look at box five. Perhaps the only one who had ever dare show anger and defiance in that direction.

But she did not. She went to her rooms. She embraced the darkness. It did not bring solace, but perhaps it would bring numbness. Perhaps for a time she could just forget and be at peace.

But neither numbness nor peace were to be had, for she was gripped by nightmares of korrigans, Swedish water demons that had haunted her since childhood and caused her sleepwalking spells. She and Raoul would sneak off to see if they could catch them dancing on the water. One dark night she had become separated from him and by the time he had found her she was in a small crate with the lid closed and had been bit by some sort of poisonous spider or perhaps a scorpion. She was very ill for a long time after and the dark terrified her. For a long time she had needed many candles to sleep at night. While she grew out of that over time, the sleepwalking remained. She would find herself in a small dark closet terrified of dragons and trolls. In Perro-Guirec when they were children, Raoul would save her and "slay" the dragons for her. Usually some small lizard or scorpion. But the only thing that had ever truly made a difference was her father lighting many candles in the room before she came out. After she came to the Opera House her Angel did the same, never letting her come from the closet or armoire until he was finished and gone. Only he was not here to save her this time, and Christine spent the night terrified with no knight to slay the dragon and no Angel to light the way.

The next night was the Masquerade Ball, Raoul was to escort her and he knew right away something was terribly wrong. She told him it was no more than a bit of a headache and that she had managed to prick herself with pins as she had slipped into her costume. A diaphanous white and feathered gown with white wings and a golden halo. He pressed his lips together at her angel costume but said nothing, glad she had not come in black for a change, choosing to see it as progress.

Christine had not lied entirely, she was feeling a headache coming on, and oddly ill. Other party members were swimming in and out of focus. Her vision was narrowing considerably to just the area directly in front of her. She held on to Raoul's arm to center herself. The glass of champagne she held became no more than an ornament held in disinterested fingers that she was occasionally startled to find were hers.

That was when she noticed an unusual feeling between her breasts. Something rather… slithery was the only way to describe it. Looking down she noticed the head of a very small dragon looking at her for just a moment before it tucked itself back inside her bodice. A rather pretty little thing soft brown with darker diamonds and tiny little horns, but how it came to take up residence in her bosom was a mystery to her, as was how long it intended to stay. Raoul must slay it, of course, that is what knights do, and she turned to him to let him know he had been remiss in his duties that he had allowed a dragon to become entrenched so "Raoul, there is the matter of the dragon…" he smiled indulgently at her as they neared the grand staircase "Yes Lotte, the dragon will most assuredly be vanquished m'lady at …." Whatever he has meant to say was lost as the violins came to a screeching halt. On the Grand Staircase was the Red Death. Christine was drawn inexorably forward. She knew this meant only one thing.

Death had come for her at last. She could only feel relief.

Her mind became fuzzy as Death began to speak, she could not tell if he was speaking to her, his words made no sense "Why so silent, good messieurs"? He threw something down but she did not see what she never took her eyes from his skull face "Did you think that I had left you for good? Have you missed me, good messieurs? I have written you an opera"! His eyes finally met hers and whatever he saw must have made him decide that now was the time for their earthly departure because he stopped talking to the mangers, or anyone at all and held her gaze alone. She even thought she heard him call her name. Of course he knew her name, he was Death after all. Then he was in front of her. He said… something she could no longer hear, there was an odd rushing in her ears and the staircase tilted sideways. She was almost sure it had never done that before. She reached for Death, he had come to take her away, no? Then why was he taking so long? She heard someone shout… Raoul? And then Death swept her up in his arms and carried her away and the darkness and peace she had been seeking were finally hers.


	3. In the Arms of a Stranger

Chapter 3

She slept only to wake in the arms of a stranger. One of the Masquerade attendees to be sure, he wore formal dress and a cape and a mask. He carried her like a child, though somehow, she did not mind. His cape covered her as well. That was kind of him, but altogether unnecessary. Death's arrival meant she was soon to be relieved of any need for earthly comforts.

Christine leaned back in the arms of the man who carried her, feeling safe, almost as though she knew this man, but that could not be. She never met any of the men who attended the Opera. Oh no. That most certainly would not have been permitted. She never allowed anyone to touch her, certainly not carry her, so how could she know what safety in a man's arms feel like? Even her Angel had only ever touched her with gloves until … but no she would not think of that now… He smelled nice too. Safe. Why did her mind keep associating this stranger with safety? Odd the things we think of when we are dying. Why was she dying? Oh yes Death had come for her. But then, where was he? But he was nice, this stranger, perhaps he knew where Death had gone to? And caring, and he was helping her. His scent was the scent of… home? Like ink and old books and spices… a familiar scent... like… her heart squeezed painfully... No, no, no, it was only wishful thinking, probably because she had come to die in the same place her Angel had. Didn't she? Why was she here? How had she got here? In her Angel's tunnels so near his home? How had this stranger got here? Angel would not be pleased. But then he was gone and beyond caring. Still she could see no harm in enjoying this, no part of his skin was touching her after all. But she did think she should tell him that she did not normally allow strange men to touch her, and that her Angel would not allow such formalities were he here, but he was not. If he were this man could not hold her. Her Angel would have put an end to that and probably him as well, he never liked her to go to after cast parties let alone allow some stranger to carry her.

Finally the stranger spoke "Angel? Is that what you call your Viconte now?" he asked in a bitter tone, Christine did not seem to notice, though she wondered how he knew about Raoul. "No, there was only ever one Angel and he is gone now". The stranger did not comment on this.

"You are very kind to carry me, monsieur. I need to get to the lake and you must go no further. I am sure I will be able to make it on my own from there". The man carrying her said nothing. "I should not even allow you to come this far he would not... would not have liked it. Even in death I should honor his wishes, no"? The man jerked his head to look at her, and did speak then, "Death? Whose death, Christine"? She started, she had not recalled giving the stranger her name, "Oh, I am so pleased I introduced myself. I am so ill and tired I was worried I forgot common courtesy and here you have been so kind. I am afraid I cannot recall what you said your name is". She could feel his intense stare, she knew she had been rude in forgetting. "Please excuse my manners, monsieur, I am not normally so out of sorts, surely when one is being carried to one's tomb one can be excused a bit of forgetfulness and lapse in etiquette, no"? The stranger pulled her tight and in a strange voice choked out "Do NOT speak like that you are not dying Christine". He seemed to require some assurance so she patted him soothingly on the arm. "Your concern for a stranger is very touching sir, if you like I shall not speak of my death, though it does not pain me to do so, but I still do not know your name".

"Erik" he whispered "My name is Erik"

"I am very pleased to meet you Erik, but we are at the lake now, soon you will see a boat. Please put me in it and then go back. My Angel would not have wanted you here, I will be alright from here" and to reassure him once more she smiled at him, "I promise, I just need to nap for a bit, then perhaps I will sing one last time".

"Christine, open your eyes and look at me do you not know who I am"? He asked desperately.

"No", she said, "but it truly no longer matters, you have been very kind, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart but now I wish only to die in peace, here where my Angel died". I wish to reward you for your kindness, but all I have are the rings my parents were married in that Raoul brought me. They were for… well, that does not matter now, but if I could beg one more indulgence"? Erik raised an eyebrow and made an inquiring noise, "please tie my hair back for me in this black ribbon? I think he would have liked that, don't you? He always gave me a rose tied with a black ribbon. No thorns. All of my roses have thorns now". Erik could not speak for the lump in his throat, he just nodded and did as she asked. She took his gloved hand and kissed the palm, "Thank you Erik. You have been very kind to me in my final hours. Kinder than I have a right to expect".

Erik put her carefully in the boat and started rowing her to his home, she did not seem to notice, if he still had the ability to believe in a merciful God he would have prayed for the poison to slow long enough for his friend to get here with an antidote. He recognized the signs of poisoning at once. Any assassin would, but the Daroga would know which and what antidote was needed. He had stopped only long enough to pull the costume off and leave a note for Antoinette Giry telling her where he had taken Christine, why and to send the Daroga to him at once. Dear God, had Christine poisoned herself? Certainly her behavior and talk of death, as though she welcomed, it were disturbing. Where had this melancholy come from? He had left her so she would be happy, why was she not happy?

He tried another tactic to get through to her and keep her awake, "Why do you believe your Angel is dead, Christine, surely Angel's cannot die"? She smiled a bitter, sad and lonely smile, one Erik knew all too well, having worn one like it all of his life "Three months and I have not heard from him. Since my childhood I have never gone a single day without hearing his voice at least once. And now it has been three months. My heart, my voice, and my soul they all died with him. Now I am just waiting for my body to join them and it seems now they shall, Death appeared to me tonight, did you see him"? Erik was stunned, it never occurred to him that she would believe him dead and grieve for him, but clearly she had. He considered her actions over the past three months, she had refused all lead singing roles she had in fact nearly refused to sing at all, he had assumed it to be the Viconte's decision, but now… and speaking of the boy, why wasn't she wearing his ring? Were they not engaged? Why had the papers not announced an engagement? And did she seem thinner? And what was that she had been kneeling in front of in her dressing room it looked like… dear God it had looked like a red rose. And a candle… and where had she got the black ribbon he had just tied her hair with? It looked like one of his.

"Christine that was a costume, not actually Death! And absence does not mean he is dead, there may be another reason…." When he looked at her he was horrified to see she was silently weeping and worse that her tears were tinged with blood, this was a frightening new symptom of the poison, "No Erik, only his death would keep him from me, and while I will not spend eternity with him, for surely I am a damned creature, he said so himself when I took off his mask, at least I can die where he did, no"? Erik thought back to that morning and the things he said, could he have called her a damned creature? And if so how could he have said that to her? And how could she believe it?

He was at the shore now he scooped her into his arms to carry her to her room. "Christine, you are pure and good, you are not damned for eternity" she looked at him with grief stricken eyes "I am, I killed him, I killed my Angel because I didn't know" Erik stopped in his tracks, why on earth would she think she had killed him? Did she know he had been on the roof? How could she? "Christine, why would you think you killed me" she did not notice he used the word "me", but she still took a long time to answer "I knew he was not a real Angel, that he was a man, I knew he was the Phantom. As soon as I hear the Phantom's voice I could never have been fooled. He had the most beautiful voice. Truly like an angel's Erik. Sometimes when he spoke or played for me I would forget to move or even breathe. He should have been on that stage not me". Erik was stunned, he did not know she had guessed his identity. "When did you know"? He was musing out loud but she answered anyway "I was twelve. He was angry because Carlotta was being, well, Carlotta again, ever the petulant Diva, and he was telling Monsieur Reyer that he would not suffer her much longer. Monsieur Reyer told him if he kept playing pranks as the Phantom then soon they would have no cast. They argued about it. Shouting. I was surprised. Everyone seemed so afraid of the Phantom, but not Reyer. And then the Phantom spoke, and I knew. The voice, you see, and when he stepped from the shadows, so intent was he in trying to intimidate Reyer I knew he was a man. But I could have told him Reyer could not be intimidated had he only asked. The man is a tyrant. Neither one ever knew I was there, of course, so he did not ask". He was amazed, how could he have missed a twelve year old spy? He knew how. Oh that Reyer! The man drove him mad! The only one he trusted with his work was also the only one who dared argue with him. Argue?! The man had dared shout on more than one occasion, he was a mad genius, an angry mad genius. "But I thought maybe he would be different. We seemed… connected somehow we could sense each other after a while. I always knew when he was near. Well, I had always thought that, until recently I started to sense him again, but he is dead so it could not be, I must be going mad…. But still… I was wrong… so wrong. I touched him and he died. Like everyone else I have touched with my bare hands. I knew as soon as I touched him he would die. And he knew it too. That is why he was so angry with me, you see? The things he said, the things he called me, they were just like the priests when I tried to repent and join the church. I promised to remember them sear them to my heart so I would not be tempted to touch again. "Damn you! You little prying Pandora, you little demon, is this what you wanted to see, Curse you! You little lying Delilah. You little viper! Now you can never be free! Damn you! Curse you"! He knew, in that moment, he knew what I was. I am a damned creature born of death and to death, there is no repentance for that. I am damned". He knew the words she spoke were true. That he had said those things. He had no specific recollection, but they were words he WOULD use. He could see in her eyes she believed what she was saying. That she had believed what HE had said. And he felt for the first time like the monster others believed him to be.

He understood so much about her now. He knew she never went without gloves, never allowed anyone to touch her skin, but some people were like that without believing themselves damned, he had never given it much thought until now. Not liking to be touched himself it did not seem unusual. Now it seemed terrifying.

Christine stared at the post of her bed seeing not seeing it. Not seeing anything, lost in memories. "Was it so wrong to hope there was one being I could hope to touch without killing"? Erik choked back a sob hearing that, how many times had he wished for simple human contact that had been denied him? Never knowing his Christine had prayed for the same and he had been the one to deny it to her.

Erik could bear no more. He had no idea her shock and horror that day was directed at herself and not his face. That she believed his words were a result of a fear of HER. Of being touched by her. He held her to him and wept for the damage and pain he had caused her. For clearly he had, he could see the evidence of the devastation he had caused. He did not understand what she meant when she said she was born of death, or what priests had said to her, but he knew what it was like to be held responsible for something you could not control and to think he had done that to the only woman he had ever loved was his undoing. He collapsed with her onto the bed begging her to forgive him, to see him, to know that he was alive, that he would never leave her again, rocking her while they both wept. But while she wept with him until neither had any tears left, she never responded to his words again. And that is exactly how Nadir Khan found them.

Only Nadir was not alone.


	4. Keep the Patient Calm

**The viper described here is VERY loosely based on the saw viper Echis Carinatus of the middle East. I have taken great liberties with the effects of the venom and treatment here and after. Nothing you read should in anyway be misconstrued as medical advice. I have very limited knowledge of anti-venin knowing only that it first came to use in this time period. If you are bit by a poisonous snake seek actual medical advice not the assistance of a middle eastern friend.**

Chapter 4

The noose was out before Erik fully comprehended who he was even looking at. How dare Nadir bring the boy to his home? WHY would he bring the boy to his home? There could be only one reason. Nadir meant for him to kill the boy. A gift. He would happily accept and thank his friend later. So why was the Daroga placing himself between him and his target? "Erik no, Erik stop. You need to hear him out, you have been mistaken about so many things".

"Perhaps, but I am not mistaken in how slowly I can make a man die. It can take days if done correctly". Was that fear he saw in the boy's eyes? Good that was a start. But he noticed the fear was not directed at him, it was over his shoulder. Raoul finally spoke, and what he said next was probably the only thing that could have save his life in that moment "While you two argue MY life or death, my sister is bleeding to death"!

Erik turned to Christine his worst nightmares realized as blood was pooling from her eyes, nose and mouth. Nadir shouted at Erik "Morphine NOW". Raoul did not even want to know why the drug was being kept here nor why Monsieur Khan believed it would be effective, he just knew he did not want to lose Christine. He ran to the bed and took her hand.

Erik came back with a filled syringe and injected it into her hip. "Another" said Nadir "We need to slow her heart or she will bleed out". Erik did as instructed, worried that the morphine alone may kill her. He had no familiarity with STOPPING a poison from killing, however and Nadir did, so he deferred to his judgment. "More"? Erik asked his eyes wide. "Give it a moment, ami, a moment to settle" they watched as the bleeding slowed, her blood pressure returning to normal. "It is a good thing you did not throw out all of the poison last time I visited Erik. We will visit your reasons another time". Erik just glared at him.

Christine slowly became aware of Raoul's presence as he held her hand and wiped the blood from her face. "Oh Raoul, do not weep for me, please. I am at peace. Look, no Korrigan, just like I said, this is a safe place". He smiled at their childhood games, but remembered how serious she had been about them not so long ago. "I cannot lose you little Lotte, you are the only sister I would slay dragons for" Christine froze. "Why… I quite think of you as a brother as well Raoul … thank you." Raoul rubbed her hand with his thumb. "I have told Mr. Khan the circumstances of our birth and your friend here will soon know as well". Christine went pale. "What have you done Raoul?! We do not know these men! I will be dead soon, it is no matter but you! You have everything to lose. Oh Raoul…" He was shocked at her words "I don't understand Christine, certainly you know…" Erik stood up "She does not. She has no idea who I am". Raoul glared at him, "You were awfully cozy with my sister when I walked in for someone who does not know her". Erik fingered his lasso again, surprised when he boy did not flinch, he was in fact surprised that the boy had not once looked intimidated the entire time he had been here. Surprised and annoyed. "I did not say I do not know HER, she does not know ME. Glaring at Christine he nearly shouted and you are NOT DYING"!

Irritated by Erik's insistence that she live against her will, but also frightened by this exchange, she spared a glare for him and clutched Raoul's arm, "Do not argue, please, Erik has been very kind, he carried me all the way here, he helped me get comfortable so I can die peacefully where my Angel died".

Finally understanding, Raoul sighed. The nightmare. The trauma her father and the priests had inflicted on her was so deep she would need help pulling through it, and God help him the killer in the room may be the only one who could help her. She had to see that she had not killed him. He must get through to her. Raoul could not deny there was a connection between them. She may deny she knew him but he had never seen Christine allow anyone to touch her and he had certainly never seen her show the kind of emotion she was showing to this man. Of course it was mostly annoyance, but underlying that was a protectiveness towards him that she showed no one else. She had yet to tell her pet killer to stop threatening him with that lasso for instance. And there was no doubt the man cared for her in a way that was borderline obsessive. And he seemed hell bent on obliterating that border.

Lost in his thoughts he had missed some of what she was saying, "And I saved the dragon for you to slay! Such a shame though, it is such a tiny thing, and very pretty" to humor what was clearly her morphine fueled ramblings he asked "And where does this dragon live, Lotte"? She raised a hand to her bosom "Here beneath my corset see," she lifted her corset away a bit "Oh, he is getting more comfortable" and to Raoul's horror a viper curled from beneath her corset around the top of her left breast.

Erik and Nadir both froze. "Christine" Erik rasped hoarsely "do not move. Please, love, please stay still" Raoul noticed both men's terror and froze, although he wryly did not miss that no instruction was given to the safety of his own life in spite of the fact that the viper was inches from his hand. "Erik, you will need to grab it quickly, but keep it alive, and do not get bit I won't be able to make enough antidote for both of you". Erik nodded "Save Christine no matter the cost". Nadir looked sadly at his friend, but agreed.

With years of practice as a musician and a magician Erik moved quickly and precisely gabbing the creature that was known and feared, for good reason, in Persia as an Assassin's Viper, behind the head pulling it from her with no damage to either her or the snake. Only then did the three men dare to breath.

"See" said Christine, almost cheerfully, "I saved you a dragon to slay" Raoul forced a smile. "Yes, princess, you did".

Nadir began preparing a jar to extract venom. "Do you know when and where she was bit"? Raoul thought "How would I … no … wait … she said as she was dressing she pricked herself with a pin. This was just before the ball, and from where it was curled I would say in a delicate place" Nadir calculated "Perhaps two hours then. I must work quickly. Keep her calm. Any more morphine and that will be as likely to kill her as the venom. We are going to have to check for signs of infection".

Raoul looked decidedly uncomfortable at the thought and Erik looked as though he might strangle anyone who went near any of Christine's delicate parts on principle alone. "Bloody… We will send for the venerable Madame Giry to perform that duty later". Both men relaxed. "Although I will allow one of you to explain why YOU kidnapped her … again… and why she has been allowed to remain drugged in the company of three bachelors".

"Again"? Raoul looked affronted, "Kidnapping my sister has become something of a sport for you, I take it"?

Christine stepped in before things could get out of hand. "Erik did not kidnap me I… well, the staircase tilted sideways, and as it had never performed such a feat before you can imagine how surprised I was, and so I fell down into the tunnels … somehow… and he carried me… OK I am fuzzy on some of the details… but I am certain no kidnapping was involved. And he could not have kidnapped me before… because… " Christine stopped looking confused and passed a hand over her eyes

"Raoul, I am very tired and I wish you would stop fighting and leave me alone to …. Sing my Papa and Mama's wedding song for me again. The one he wrote just for her. I had hoped one day I might use it at my own … no a foolish dream …" she looked at him so sad, so alone that he wanted nothing more than to make all her foolish dreams come true, but he would not be the one to do that. "I would like to hear it one last time, please" Raoul choked back a lump and started:

" _Say you love me every waking moment, turn my head with talk of summertime._

 _Say you need me with you, now and always. Promise me that all you say is true -that's all I ask of you"._

But found he could not sing another note.

Another voice picked up where his left off, picking up Christine's hand and looking into her eyes while he sang, pleading with her to see him, really see him this time. Raoul knew he was intruding on something intimate and private and let after the first verse.

 _Let me be your shelter, let me be your light. You're safe: No-one will find you your fears are far behind you._

 _All I want is freedom, a world with no more night. And you always beside me to hold me and to hide me._

 _Then say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime. Let me lead you from your solitude._

 _Say you need me with you here, beside you. Anywhere you go, let me go too -, that's all I ask of you._

 _Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime. Say the word and I will follow you._

 _Share each day with me, each night, each morning._

 _Say you love me._

 _You know I do._

 _Love me -that's all I ask of you._

Christine looked at him finally. Not through him. And this time saw him for who he was with tears in her eyes she finished the song with him

 _Anywhere you go let me go too. Love me -that's all I ask of you._

"Angel, you didn't die" she whispered "I am no Angel, Christine, but no, love, I didn't die" she closed her eyes "You have always been my Angel. Always. And then I ruined it. I am so sorry". He buried his face in her skirts, "No, please, it was all me. I thought you would be disgusted by… this … frightened away… "He waved his hand at his face. "By what"? She asked, clearly puzzled. He looked up at her testing whether this was some sort of joke, he could see she did not know what he meant. "My face Christine" she still looked confused. "Yes… you have a face. I can see you are trying to tell me something very important Angel, but I am not certain what that is" he could not believe she was going to make him go into specifics, was the morphine making her that addled? "You took my mask off Christine, you know what I look like without it on".

He thought she was going to glare the soul out of his body. She nearly choked on her rage. She considered choking HIM on her rage. She tried to remember some of the crudest words she heard the stagehands use. "You vain, selfish … BASTARD"! He had never heard her use a curse word before, he was stunned into silence. "You let me believe you were dead for three months because of your FACE"?! She sputtered outraged "RAOUL, I am going to need your pistol"

Raoul entered the room with a carefully neutral look on his face, he had no desire to be shot by his sister, nor lassoed by her... whatever the hell her madman was. Nadir right behind him with a syringe. "Mon ami" Nadir said, "we are going to work on your definition of keeping a patient calm" Raoul went to Christine's side. "You called for my pistol" he said, keeping his voice disinterested "Yes, he pretended to be dead for three months, I am going to make an honest man of him" Nadir went to her side, not even pretending to keep the amusement out of his voice "Mademoiselle, I sympathize with your desire to shoot Erik, but let us make certain that you survive your tiny dragon first, and then I will loan you my own pistol". He injected her with the antidote. Erik, carefully side stepping her desire to shoot him, although he did pause to glare at both men, asked "How long until we know" Nadir checked her pulse, her pupil dilation and made certain she was no longer bleeding, "within the hour, we will know, if she begins bleeding again she will need the second injection. Come Monsieur le Viconte, I intend to abuse our host's stock of brandy, in addition to having abused his dubious good graces, I suggest you join me, and do keep your pistol out of the young lady's reach, the recoil and loud noise could not possibly be good for her in her condition".

Christine continued to glare at Erik, almost daring him to excuse his behavior. He continued to stare at his hands, clearly not knowing what to say. "Three months, Angel…" she began "Erik, my name is Erik" her eyes dared him to make this a point of contention, but he refused to back down "this is a wonderful time to become particular over a name, but fine, Erik, if you prefer. Three months. You let me believe you were dead. My grief consumed me. I stopped performing. I stopped caring. I would have stopped living if I had been left alone long enough. God knows I wanted to stop living". He closed his eyes against her pain. She whispered "Didn't you care? You were my entire world and then you were gone. Did that mean nothing to you"? He finally looked at her and she could see his guilt and suffering, but she could not back down, she needed answers. "I left you alone because I thought you and the boy…" he waved his hands towards the rings on her chest "I thought you had agreed to marry him. I wanted you to be happy…I never knew you believed me dead. I sure as hell did not know the boy is your brother". If he could be picky so could she "His name is Raoul and I will thank you to use it. And stop using swear words. It is inappropriate". He rolled his eyes.

"Why would you believe you had caused my death"?

Christine went still and pale. He could not help but notice how she hid her hands. "It is not literal it is just…"

"You meant it. You meant it quite literally".

She froze. "Why would you believe I thought myself responsible"? She asked quietly "What else has Raoul told you? About me? About our mother? My father"? She was starting to panic, he could see it in her eyes, and she looked ready to bolt, just what the hell was going on?

"Christine, Raoul has told me nothing, largely due to the fact that I have spent most of his time here threatening to strangle him. I don't know even why he calls you his sister, though I suspect Nadir knows something. You told me that yourself when I carried you down here".

She closed her eyes, of course she had. "I don't know what I said to you. All I can remember about the trip down here is that you felt ... safe. And you smelled like …" she stopped, blushing, embarrassed, he raised an eyebrow "like…"? She shrugged "Like safety, which is impossible, I have never let anyone touch me, how could I know what that felt, much less smelled like? But mostly… like home". He sucked in a breath. He wanted to gather her to him, tell her he would be whatever she needed if she swore never to leave him again he would worship her, but he knew he had to take it slow.

That blasted nightmare. The nightmares always left her … different the next day, as though she could not quite shake their grip. Unless there were candles when she woke up, of course. "I had one of my nightmares. I was alone in the closet". He buried his face in his hands. "How long"? Not wanting to make things worse she said quietly "It doesn't matter Angel, it isn't your job to lead me out of dark places any more. I am a grown woman" he thought at that moment she looked anything but, she looked small and frightened and he longed to hold her and protect her but he grippe his hands instead. "Who lit the candles, Christine"? She didn't answer, "Was Raoul there? Did he light the candles"? He was afraid he knew the answer "I am an adult now, Erik. I light my own candles". He asked the question again "How long were you in the closet Christine"? She knew he would not let it go "until morning". He moaned into his hands to think of her alone and frightened and cold all night in a wooden closet.

She reached out and covered his gloved hand with her own. "They are just dreams, Angel, they go away. They can't really hurt me". He was shocked to see how pale and thin her hands had become.

Desperate to change the subject and needing answers, "Why did you think you had killed me"? He asked suddenly "Why did you think I would be disgusted by your face"? She shot back. "Because everyone that has seen my face has been disgusted and shunned me, or worse". She nodded "At least you left them alive, everyone I touch dies, just like the priests said they would". He reached out a gloved hand and lifted her chin to look at him "I didn't die, and I have never believed what priests had to say". She gasped at this blasphemy and he knew he was going to hell for his next actions, but he no longer cared, assuming he ever had, as soon as he heard that gasp he pulled her forward into a hard searing kiss that left them both panting for breath. She never knew or cared when he took off his gloves to capture her cheeks with his bare hands.

They only broke apart when they heard Nadir's voice "I am DEFINITELY getting you a dictionary so you can look up the words "keep" and "patient" and "calm".


	5. Rooftop Revelations

Chapter 5

Nadir checked her once more and decide besides needing rest she would make a full recovery. He wanted Madame Giry to come and make an exam of her person. Raoul wanted her to see a doctor now that she was in no danger of immediate death. Erik wanted her to rest after her ordeal. Christine wanted them to leave her alone to continue to shout at Erik for his unconscionable behavior. And maybe for him to kiss her again. But mostly she wanted to shout at him. Now that she had him back he was not getting away so easily.

She won.

"Now" she started, "perhaps you would like to explain to me why you would ever come to believe I had engaged myself to my own brother"?

"I heard you on the roof, Christine" he said, pacing the room, rather like a great cat she thought, watching his thighs while he moved. Perhaps she could blame her sudden flush on the snake bite. "On the roof"? She asked, somewhat dazed "This is why I wanted you to rest, you are in no condition for this conversation". She shook her head, pull it together Christine, his hindquarters are none of your concern "I am perfectly fine Erik, and it is rude of you to suggest otherwise. Do sit down you are distracting me … I mean your pacing is... " He tried to make sense of her flushed cheeks but decided not to comment on them. "Yes the roof, after Il Mulato, the night I killed Buquet"

She stared at him in dumb struck amazement. "You… you... killed him"?

Now it was his turn for amazement. "You knew that, you told the b… Raoul... Raoul" he gave in raising his hands at her stern look "that I had done so, what were your words? _Those eyes that burn! And if he has to kill a thousand men_ " She seemed confused but then... "Erik… Angel, I was not describing you when I said that. I … wait… why did you kill Buquet …? I asked you not to"!

"You know why, Christine" he said stroking her cheek, "I told you I was going to". And he had, she had not believed he had meant it literally, but oh yes, she knew why. She had born the bruises for weeks. Josef Buquet was a cruel drunk who had cornered more than one of the girls and forced his attentions on them. When he cornered Christine and she refused him he had knocked her to the ground with a closed fist. Erik had been in the flies and had been down in moments. Buquet had fled while Erik took care of Christine, but as soon as he knew she was alright, he went after him. She pleaded with him not to, he told her not to worry to go find Madame Giry and on her way she had seen a nightmare from her childhood. She ran to the stage in a panic to Madame Giry. She had been trained to perform under any stress, but later is when Carlotta had been made to croak like a toad and Buquet's body had been kicked over strangled to death and she had fled with Raoul to the roof. The roof where…

"Erik, if you were there you know what I said, you know I told Raoul he needed to take me back to you where you could keep me safe that you were the only one who could that ... no one ... could find me in your home". He was sure she had been about to say something else, but that was not important now. "I… it sounded different that night. It sounded like you thought I meant to harm you. To murder you if I could". Christine's hands covered her mouth and her eyes grew wide. He thought for a moment she may become ill. She was a good actress, but not this good. Whatever she had actually said, it was clearly he had misunderstood. He reached to take her hands, "Christine… "

"All of your skulking and spying Erik, that is what brought us to this. Your mistrust. I understand if you mistrust the world, but I have never given you cause to mistrust me. I have never given you reason to believe that physical appearances were of any importance to me. Certainly not more important than you are. Since I was a child who has been the most influential person in my life? YOU, you daft man, did you give me cause to believe that physical beauty is how I should judge a person"? She was right, he knew she was. She had never sought out the flashiest of baubles, gowns or people. She enjoyed plain modest gifts and genuine, kind people. And yet… "Did I teach you also to fear that if you touched someone they would die and implant unhealthy superstition in you"? She looked at him in disbelief "YES"! She shouted causing him to jump. "When you made me think I had killed you! When you continued to hide who you were from me behind the guise of a celestial being. Any of this sound familiar"! Right, that was a rather fair point, he thought. And one he would rather visit later. With fewer pistols in the house.

"You are correct, love, my mistrust is entirely at fault. I have never had cause to trust or believe in anyone, but you deserved better than me. You still do". He had stopped pacing but had not sat down yet. He came to the side of the bed sat down and pulled her to him. "But I think we both know that you are not going to _get_ someone better than me. The next one who tries I may not stop to ask if he is a long lost relative before I strangle him". She finally laughed and wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder. He let out a breath he did not even know he had been holing. "I suppose that is true, I did try to convince you when I still thought you were a stranger that had my Angel been alive you would not have been permitted to carry me". He laughed, she loved the sound of his laughter, "That is true, and I was trying to figure out how that would work while being jealous of myself at the same time". Christine curled into his side giggling, "You would have been really unhappy if you knew that I kept wondering how to get this stranger to leave me his cape so I could wrap up in those amazing smells". He kissed her on top of the head. They sat like that, both content for the first time in months, for a long time, when she finally asked "Do you want to know what really happened on the roof top"?

"I no longer need to" he said, pulling her close. "That is not what I asked, Angel" He leaned down to breath in her hair and nodded just once.

 **What was really said that night**

"Why have you brought me here? We must return! _My Angel will be so worried. He won't know where I have gone"!_

 _"Who is this Angel Christine"?_

 _"Others have called him the Phantom of the Opera, Raoul, and I must get back, I have not explained about you he will not like that we have gone off together"!_

" Be still now Christine, don't say that don't even think it forget this waking nightmare this phantom is a fable believe me there is no Phantom of the Opera, my God, who is this man? This mask of death? Whose is this voice you hear? With every breath"?

" _The only one who can protect me from the korrigan, I cannot go back to my dressing room alone!_ Don't take me back there! He'll kill me! His eyes will find me there! Those eyes that burn! And if he has to kill a thousand men – The Phantom of the Opera _is the only one who can protect me, the korrigan_ will kill and kill again! My god, who is this man? Who hunts to kill? I can't escape from him. I never will"!

" _The korrigan is just a man Christine, I can protect you!_ There is no Phantom of the Opera, your safety lies here"!

"Raoul, I've been there – to his world of unending night to a world where the daylight dissolves into darkness…darkness… _It is safe there, the korrigan can find me everywhere else_ Raoul, I've seen him! Can I ever forget that sight? Can I ever escape from that face? So distorted, deformed, it was hardly a face, _but I can find safety_ in that darkness…darkness… _There will be only me and my Angel and our music there. Like there was once before._ But his voice filled my spirit with a strange, sweet sound in that night there was music in my mind and through music my soul began to soar! And I heard as I'd never heard before".

"What you heard was a dream and nothing more"

Christine seemed wistful "Yet in his eyes all the sadness of the world those pleading eyes that both threaten and adore".

 _"Christine, let me sing to you as I did when we were children, your parent's wedding song, perhaps you will sing it one day at your wedding"?_

 _"That is a lovely thought Raoul, but you know I cannot. Still, to go to all the trouble of finding and bringing me their rings. Has ever a knight gone on a nobler quest"?_

 _On bended knee with hand over heart and bowed head in true knightly fashion, Raoul presented her with her parent's wedding rings on a chain "your crown jewels returned fair princess" Christine smiled for the first time that night._

 _And then he sang to her._

Erik did not know what to say. Christine he knew had been trained to have almost perfect recall when it came to dialogue and lyrics. He knew this because he had trained her himself. When she repeated what was said it was with perfect clarity. She may have got some of the positioning, blocking wrong, in fact she often did the first time, but dialogue? Never. To doubt this was to doubt his training.

"I am…" she stopped him with a hand to his masked cheek, still so afraid to touch him he noted "Please don't say you are sorry again, we have to get past this. I don't want apologies, Angel. I want you to trust me" He leaned into her hand. "And what if I can't? What if I can't trust anyone"? She pulled his arm around her waist, "Then I will trust enough for both of us"


End file.
